Pants or Skirts?

My Pinterest page has a board entitled "Feminine Flair." It's pictures are full of ruffles, lace, and lovely dresses - things that spell f-e-m-i-n-i-n-e to me.  If I knew how to sew well and money was no object, I suppose I'd dress like this all the time.

The truth is, you'll often find me in a pair of blue jeans. I'm slowly building up the number of skirts in my wardrobe, but more often then not, the practicality of wearing a pair of pants with toddlers around the house and a sizable garden wins over a sweeping skirt. Some have asked why I believe it's permissible for a woman to wear pants, citing Deuteronomy 22:5 as a case for skirts only.

“A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment, for all who do so are an abomination to the LORD your God." 

If the reason a woman must not wear pants is because they pertain to men, what do we do with Boaz, King Saul, and Aaron who were all cited as wearing skirts or cloaks as was the custom in Biblical times? Men of ancient Greece and Rome wore skirts, as did American Indian and Scottish males.

It makes me cringe when I hear people say, "That passage of Scripture doesn't apply to me because it's relating to a cultural issue of their day." The infamous cop-out may be over used, but there is still a danger of reading into a passage in order to make it suit our fancy. Deuteronomy 22:5 is not speaking about whether a woman should wear pants or skirts, but against transvestism - cross-dressing to appear as someone of the opposite sex.

The manner in how a culture dresses differs from one era and place to the next. What doesn't change is our responsibility to appear distinctly female. To pervert our designated sexuality (which God called very good) by blurring the gender lines in the way we dress is an abomination to the Lord.

In any case, modesty is the principal of female attire. There are women, even in the church, who wear skirts that are far less modest than any pair of blue jeans I have ever seen. That's not necessarily an argument for wearing pants to church, but a plea to switch from a hooker-style skirt where the outline of your thong is clearly visible, to something that speaks of gracefulness and humility within. (1 Peter 3:3-6)

Be it pants or a skirts, a woman's job is to dress like a female. There is room for creativity and a personal sense of style in God's design. Whatever you choose to throw on in the morning, may it be something that exudes those qualities of a woman which God calls very precious in His sight: gentleness, submissiveness, and a quiet spirit.